Fundamentalism is a tendency among certain groups and individuals that is characterized by the application of a strict literal interpretation to scriptures, dogmas, or ideologies, along with a strong belief in the importance of distinguishing one's ingroup and outgroup, which leads to an emphasis on some conception of "purity", and a desire to return to a previous ideal from which advocates believe members have strayed. The term is usually used in the context of religion to indicate an unwavering attachment to a set of irreducible beliefs.
Christian fundamentalism, also known as fundamental Christianity or fundamentalist Christianity, is a religious movement emphasizing biblical literalism. In its modern form, it began in the late 19th and early 20th centuries among British and American Protestants as a reaction to theological liberalism and cultural modernism. Fundamentalists argued that 19th-century modernist theologians had misunderstood or rejected certain doctrines, especially biblical inerrancy, which they considered the fundamentals of the Christian faith.
Islamic fundamentalism has been defined as a revivalist and reform movement of Muslims who aim to return to the founding scriptures of Islam. The term has been used interchangeably with similar terms such as Islamism, Islamic revivalism, Qutbism, Islamic extremism, Islamic activism, but also criticized as pejorative, a term used by outsiders who instead ought to be using more positive terms such as Islamic activism or Islamic revivalism.
Mormon fundamentalism is a belief in the validity of selected fundamental aspects of Mormonism as taught and practiced in the nineteenth century, particularly during the administrations of Joseph Smith, Brigham Young, and John Taylor, the first three presidents of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Mormon fundamentalists seek to uphold tenets and practices no longer held by mainstream Mormons. The principle most often associated with Mormon fundamentalism is plural marriage, a form of polygyny first taught in the Latter Day Saint movement by the movement's founder, Smith. A second and closely associated principle is that of the United Order, a form of egalitarian communalism. Mormon fundamentalists believe that these and other principles were wrongly abandoned or changed by the LDS Church in its efforts to become reconciled with mainstream American society. Today, the LDS Church excommunicates any of its members who practice plural marriage or who otherwise closely associate themselves with Mormon fundamentalist practices.
Jeffery Paine is a writer recognized for his work in bringing Eastern culture and spirituality to popular audiences in the West. "Jeffery Paine is an unusual voice in American letters," observed Indian novelist and Underscretary General of the United Nations Shashi Tharoor, "one steeped in the wisdom of the East and yet infused with a knowing and witty sensibility that is profoundly Western." Paine's books, such as Father India and Re-enchantment, have been named by publications ranging from Publishers Weekly to Spirituality & Health as "Best Book of the Year." His writing falls in the category of creative or literary nonfiction, which unites original scholarship with the dramatic narrative and character development associated with a novel.
The Fellowship, also known as The Family, is a U.S.-based nonprofit religious and political organization founded in April 1935 by Abraham Vereide. The stated purpose of The Fellowship is to provide a fellowship forum where decision makers can attend Bible studies, attend prayer meetings, worship God, experience spiritual affirmation and receive support.
Haven Kimmel is an American author, novelist, and poet.
Lisa Pulitzer is an American author and journalist. Pulitzer is a former correspondent for The New York Times newspaper. She is the author/ghostwriter of more than fifteen non-fiction books. In addition to her own books, Pulitzer has written a number of memoirs including several about young women who have escaped fundamentalist religion including Jenna Miscavige Hill, the former Scientologist, Lauren Drain, the ex-member of Westboro Baptist Church, and Elissa Wall, who wrote about her experiences after leaving the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Pulitzer left journalism in 1998 while pregnant with her first child to concentrate on writing books and has had numerous publications on The New York Times Best Seller list.
Daniel Radosh is an American journalist and blogger. Radosh is a senior writer for The Daily Show with Trevor Noah. Previously, he was a staff writer for The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and a contributing editor at The Week. He writes occasionally for The New Yorker. His writing has also appeared in Entertainment Weekly, Esquire, GQ, Mademoiselle, McSweeney's Quarterly Concern, Might, New York Magazine, The New York Times, Playboy, Radar, Salon, Slate, and other publications. From 2000 to 2001, he was a senior editor for Modern Humorist. In the 1990s he was a writer and editor at Spy. Radosh began his writing career at Youth Communication in 1985, where as a high school student he published more than a dozen stories in New Youth Connections, a magazine by and for New York City teenagers.
Denis M. MacEoin was a British academic, scholar and writer with a focus on Persian, Arabic and Islamic studies. He authored several academic books and articles, as well as many pieces of journalism. Since 2014 he published a number of essays on current events with a Middle Eastern focus at the Gatestone Institute, of which he was a Senior Fellow. He was a Senior Editor from 2009 to 2010 at Middle East Quarterly, a publication of the American think tank Middle East Forum, where he was also a Fellow.
The Revealer: A Review of Religion and Media is an online magazine published by the Center for Religion and Media at New York University. The Revealer publishes ten issues per year and features articles that explore religion and its many roles in society, politics, the media, and in people's lives.
Dorothy Allred Solomon is an American author and educator committed to informing people about the pros and cons of polygamous lifestyles.
Religion Dispatches is a secular daily non-profit online magazine covering religion, politics, and culture. RD covers topics of religious thought, past and present, that underwrite social structures.
The Family: The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power is a 2008 book by American journalist Jeff Sharlet. The book investigates the political power of The Family or The Fellowship, a secretive fundamentalist Christian association led by Douglas Coe. Sharlet has said that the organization fetishizes power by comparing Jesus to "Lenin, Ho Chi Minh, Bin Laden" as examples of leaders who change the world through the strength of the covenants they had forged with their "brothers". It was published by HarperCollins.
Sigmund Freud's views on religion are described in several of his books and essays. Freud considered God as a fantasy, based on the infantile need for a dominant father figure, with religion as a necessity in the development of early civilization to help restrain our violent impulses, that can now be discarded in favor of science and reason.
Nathan Schneider is a scholar focused on economic justice in the online economy. Since 2015, he has been a professor of media studies at the University of Colorado Boulder. Previously, he worked as a journalist.
Rewire News Group is a daily United States online news publication focused on reproductive and sexual health from a pro-choice perspective. It also covers issues around racial, environmental, immigration, and economic justice.
Peter Manseau is an American writer, religion scholar and museum curator. He is Lilly Endowment Curator of American Religious History at the National Museum of American History, the Smithsonian.
This is a bibliography of literature treating the topic of criticism of Judaism as a religion, sorted by alphabetical order of titles.
The Undertow: Scenes from a Slow Civil War (2023) is a book on American politics by Jeff Sharlet, author of The Family: The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power.
